Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Martin Dempsey refused to back down from last week’s comments on the possibility of US ground troops being involved in the open-ended war on ISIS, insisting today that he will recommend “what it takes” to destroy ISIS, even if that means ground troops.
Yesterday Martin E. Dempsey at joint press conference with the Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel in the Pentagon Briefing Room said: I will make a recommendation. the president gave me a mission, destroy ISIL. And I will recommend to him what it takes to destroy ISIL.
President Obama has repeatedly ruled out ground troops, but Dempsey insists he was ordered to provide recommendations on the destruction of ISIS, and says he knows that requires a large ground force to make it happen.
Dempsey tried to be a bit conciliatory about the disconnect with the president, insisting that the “ideal” force wouldn’t include Americans, but would rather include Iraqis, Kurds, and Syrian “moderates.”
The general appeared to be expanding expectations for the Syrian rebel factions being trained by the Pentagon, saying the estimates are that they will need 12,000 to 15,000 fighters in eastern Syria. The plan approved by Congress aims to create a force of 5,000 within a year.
Moreover, The US Department of Defense says it is considering the possibility of imposing a no-fly zone over northeastern Syria to deny the Syrian military the ability to launch airstrikes there, Press TV reports.
Turkey has requested the US to establish a buffer zone along the Turkish-Syrian border to protect foreign-sponsored militants and civilians.
The US and its allies have been continuously bombing the ISIL terrorist group in northeastern Syria since Monday; but the Pentagon is indicating that it may decide to prevent the Syrian military from targeting anti-government militants in the same region.
The ISIL terrorists, who were initially trained by the CIA in Jordan in 2012 to destabilize the Syrian government, control large parts of Syria's northern territory. ISIL sent its fighters into Iraq in June, quickly seizing vast expanse of land straddling the border between the two countries.
Syria has been gripped by deadly unrest since 2011. According to reports, the United States and its regional allies - especially Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey - are supporting the militants operating inside the country.
According to the United Nations, more than 190,000 people have been killed and millions displaced due to the turmoil that has gripped Syria for over three years.
source: presstv